A Wellsboro protest is planned for Dec. 6, 7 to 9 a.m., both in and in front of the Penn Wells Hotel, 62 Main St. in Wellsboro, where Ridge is the featured speaker at a Chamber of Commerce breakfast. Some tickets for the breakfast may still remain; they’re $20 a pop, and the Chamber of Commerce number to call is (570) 724-1926. Actually, it would be great if some GDAC people could get inside.

GDAC attendance inside or outside is totally fitting, since all the signs point to Ridge having some shady, background role in PA Homeland Security’s no-bid hiring of ITRR (who spied on and libeled all of us. There’s as yet no “smoking gun,” but it’s pretty fishy, given Ridge’s PA government and US Homeland Security contacts, that PA Homeland Security should no-bid hire a spying organization that works for Ridge Global and that PA Homeland Security should openly admit (in its notorious e-mail to Virginia) that it was taking the side of the gas industry–for whom Ridge now works!–against dissenters. One protest sign I’m playing with using is ITRR: Institute of Terrorism Recruited by Ridge.

It might be interesting to scare potential leaser and investors (again, it’s a C of C event) by asking Ridge if he thought the well-organized activism in Luzerne and Columbia counties caused Encana to pull out of two counties after only two test wells; I would be cool if GDAC people either asked or were present as “Exhibit A” to back up this question.

Protest signs — pointing to Ridge and Corbett in bed with the gas companies, especially, are welc0me.

Here is an urgent article from RDA. The comment period ends October 25th.:

MARC 1 PIPELINE
The end of the Endless Mountains?

Central New York Oil and Gas L.L.C., a subsidiary of Inergy L.P., has applied to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for certification to build a pipeline named MARC 1 through Sullivan County. This would connect interstate gas transmission pipelines running east-west across the state though the counties of Lycoming, Clinton, Tioga, Bradford, Susquehanna, and others.

Permission for this line must be granted by FERC. If granted, pipeline construction that includes the right of eminent domain becomes a reality in the heart of the Pennsylvania’s Endless Mountains. This large pipeline also guarantees “development zones” along its path, and thousands of gas wells with thousands more gathering lines will be constructed to meet up with MARC 1.

This project means an end to the Pennsylvania Wilds and Endless Mountains as we know them. Individual property owner’s rights, ecosystems, sustainable tourism revenue and jobs, and the quality of life for those who live in, travel through, and visit this region are at stake.

For example, one landowner along the route expressed concern over the fate of a 300-year-old tree. “Don’t worry,” a company representative told him. “We’ll pay you for the wood.”

RDA and other advocacy groups have thus far been unsuccessful in obtaining large numbers of people who care enough to make their voices heard. Join with us as we meet that challenge and speak out with a growing voice of outrage.

Comment period on permission for the pipeline ends on October 25th. We continually hear from RDA members asking, “What can I do?” Do this.

1. Contact FERC and express your concern over the environmental impact this pipeline will have on Pennsylvania’s ecosystems. (FERC’s involvement is only in the area of environmental risk assessment and only for this interstate line)
2. Forward this message to your friends and family and ask them to do the same

When contacting FERC, refer to Docket # : CP10-480-000

Visit the FERC website by clicking here, then click on the orange e-Comment link.

You will be asked for your name and email and a capcha verification. Submitting that information will generate a message to your inbox providing a link to the comment section. You will need the Docket # to submit your comment.

If preferred, you may phone your comments to (202) 502-8258.

Request that this permit BE DENIED due to the impact that construction of this pipeline will have on the environment and ecosystems in Pennsylvania’s northern tier. You do not need to be an expert on the subject or to say more than that.

PLEASE – MAKE A DIFFERENCE TODAY.

UPDATE: Please follow the directions above. They make you jump through hoops to file a comment but do persevere.

The amount of gas drilling vehicle violations in the Northern Tier were no surprise to many. “Operation FracNET“ was a three day, five county State Police enforcement initiative that inspected 1,135 trucks with a reported focus on residual waste trucks. The results: 959 citations, 208 trucks placed out of service, 64 drivers taken out of service. “The most common problems involved faulty brakes, exterior lighting issues and hauling permit violations.” Glad to see the industry has been on top of things.

By any management metric, these are sadly laughable results. The three day enforcement was a brief and thin view into the daily complex operations of the gas play . Do the same compliance rates exist throughout this industrial system?

It is chaos. It is bedlam. Trucks upon trucks of traffic, blasting here, drilling there, fracking there, and there. A thousand critical details go by each day without sufficient oversight.

This State Police initiative is welcome and appreciated. It certainly makes a case for the lack of control the industry has on its transportation sector. One can only extrapolate this dismal record to other aspects of management’s purview.

Please note, there have been previous initiates with much the same disheartening results. Guess we taught them a thing or two. They won’t dare violate the law again…
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The corporation is not a person, it is a machine, it reads only numbers. It is fueled by numbers. It is run by numbers. It will die by numbers.

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This severance tax debate is comical. Some legislators applaud it as a hedge against environmental calamity. It is like getting a cancer injection and crying out “Hooray! I have medical insurance!”

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“The gas industry wants the Senate to give them all Pennsylvania properties which now have no gas leases.”

Hello, this is Pennsylvania DEP Secretary John Hanger inviting you to vacation here in Pennsylvania. There are so many things to do in the Champagne State: Take an intoxicating and romantic trip down the bubbly Susquehanna. Milk a dead cow! Come visit one of our many new and exciting theme parks such as Cabot Patch or EnCana Land!

Remember, liberty began and ended right here in Penn’s Woods. See you soon!

For the past six months my life has been consumed by the prospect of natural gas drilling in my community. I have attended meetings, been interviewed by the newspaper, written and talked to umpteen legislators, seen Gasland, put a No Frack sign in my yard, talked to everyone within hearing distance, and read, read, read. On a more personal level, I have taken a hard look at my own lifestyle and the usage of fossil energy resources. I would love to incorporate solar panels and a wind turbine at my home. For the time being, I have changed all of my lightbulbs to CFLs, added solar lighting to my yard, added insulation to my home, and installed insulated drapes on my windows. By using less energy, I hope to deny the energy companies of a little profit…

My driving habits have changed, too. I am looking into leasing a Prius, although I don’t drive a lot, so my CO2 discharges aren’t excessive. I combine trips and spend many days without using my car. I wish I could use other ways of transportation – in a rural area it is hard to use public transportation or walk to many services.

Am I living greener? Definitely. Perhaps I would anyway – I have always touted being an environmentalist. Now it has become an absolute passion in my lifestyle.

Has gas drilling affected my diet? I’ll leave that story for another day…

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Article I of the Pennsylvania State Constitution, Sec. 27:

The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and aesthetic values of the environment. Pennsylvania’s public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come. As trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people.

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Energy Independence???? Look up in the fracking sky!!!!!
Pennsylvanians should be manufacturing and installing solar, wind, geothermal and the like. We ought to make each home as sustainable and independent as possible.
We need to retool America. And it ought to start right here.

"However, when we realized all our neighbors had signed and we were surrounded by leased land – we finally gave in and signed. Now seeing what has happened I would gladly return the money if they would pack up and leave. I consider it dirty money."
- Susquehanna County lessor